This Week in Cruise - Air Quality Changes Come to Crystal Cruises and Disney Cruise Line

Crystal Cruises is taking a shot at air quality with the launch of hypoallergenic accommodations, dubbed Deluxe Pure Staterooms, industry-wide. Through a partnership with Pure Marine Solutions, a sister company to hospitality firm Pure Global, a patented hypoallergenic process will debut aboard Crystal Serenity. The transformation will take place during Crystal Serenity's November drydock, where each of the ship's current 70 "AA" veranda rooms will undergo Pure's seven-step air and surface purification process to remove allergens and reduce the presence of common irritants. After this, a medical-grade air purifier will continue to filter out the remaining impurities and dust. 

These Deluxe Pure Staterooms will be available to guests at no additional cost, will debut November 27 and will be designated as "P1" and "P2" in April. As part of the service, Crystal’s housekeeping staff will be trained in the daily maintenance routines required for the space. Every six months, Pure specialists will also re-service the rooms.

Another line taking a stand for air quality and guest comfort is Disney Cruise Line, which is banning smoking on stateroom verandas across all Disney ships. Other lines to enact this ban include Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Oceania Cruises and Princess Cruises, though Disney also prohibits guests from smoking in staterooms and suites.

Smoking is still welcome on guest balconies aboard Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Lines.

"From time to time we make adjustments to our operation based upon guest feedback," the line said in a statement. The ban goes into effect Nov. 15, 2013, "Guests will no longer be permitted to smoke on stateroom verandahs onboard Disney Cruise Line ships."

And should a cruiser ever wish to know about the exact balcony from which they will set sail from, BigDeckPlans.com is available to give both travelers and travel agents information on every aspect of a given line's ship. The website provides deck plans, updated public room and stateroom descriptions free of cost and available to the public.

Accessible over laptops, mobile devices and tablets, Big Deck Plans provides high-resolution images of cruise ship deck plans, magnifying imagery such as cabin numbers for ease of reading. The website offers deck plans from major lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Disney and more.